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Everything posted by synaesthesia
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Not very common any more as far as I'm aware. I suspect any state school within a 50 mile radius of us, prefects would be the ones having their heads flushed by a load of vaping, weed smoking hooligans.
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Most schools don't have silver spoons
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It's only as shocking as people make out, usually parents who have so little idea of what happens in schools. From a GDPR perspective, I would happily argue that a Halo/Verkada/Anyothersensor is more invasive than CCTV.
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Microsoft vs Google - Requesting your feedback
synaesthesia replied to mikkydoos's topic in Cloud Services
Explicitly Google here, with 365 in the background for some odds and sods (mostly licensing, Azure, Office suite etc). Given the choice, I'd say 365 is the more mature system for a windows setup. I had a strong preference for 365 with a minor Google presence for managing chromebooks, but using 365 logins. Classrooms is better than Teams by a long way - the fact that so much of 365 is bolted onto Sharepoint means it's still slow & clunky and file location/retrieval is poor. It does have benefits though from a management POV, such as admins being able to access client files easily. 365's administration is way above and beyond Google Admin IMHO in the way it makes more sense, options aren't as hidden away in obscure locations in the admin console and the OU structure is superior. Google has less clarity/distinction between device & users. Security wise can go either way; 365 has more granular controls for MFA for example, even more so if you pay for it (conditional access etc) which isn't doable in Google, unless you go around the houses. Google is too reliant on GAM command line control for my liking. Nearly everything in 365 is achievable in the UI with only rare exceptions, and powershell ability to do things in bulk as an option. Google doesn't give you the option. Windows integration is, perhaps obviously, far superior with 365. Home drive mapping, redirection etc, however you run it locally or intune is much better. You can't do that with Google, the drive app is the only real convenience so you still usually need to provide some sort of "local" storage. For me personally, with a windows estate 365 is the better choice overall. With a more prevalent Chromebook estate (I think to the point where staff use it too) then Google is an obvious preference. -
Launch of Test Filtering+ from SWGfL
synaesthesia replied to SWGfL_Official's topic in Internet Related/Filtering/Firewall
I would hope that's taken into consideration and made rather obvious by hits coming from the testfiltering domain, and exceptions can be added to the filter reports if needed. -
Launch of Test Filtering+ from SWGfL
synaesthesia replied to SWGfL_Official's topic in Internet Related/Filtering/Firewall
Yes; in bulk it's a lot of money. 200 a year to automate something you should be doing manually anyway on a regular basis plus after any changes to firewalls, filtering or other security systems however isn't a lot from a school's perspective. Easy money from SWGfL's perspective however. -
Launch of Test Filtering+ from SWGfL
synaesthesia replied to SWGfL_Official's topic in Internet Related/Filtering/Firewall
That's interesting. @SWGfL_Official, could you please confirm whether a school would need to license for every single device they have that is compatible, or could a school purchase a 20 device license and only use up to 20 selected devices? -
I really can't stand watching this, and I've tried. I don't know if it's *too* cringey, or just far, far too close to a few too many people we all know. I used to compare watching Trump at a rally to the hairy gooseberry hanging from Simon's pants in that Inbetweeners episode, but these days he's closer to Cunk.
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Going to have to re-read that now I think. It's about time. Fantastic books.
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The score is awesome, and for some reason I now really want to see Nicholas Hoult as James Bond...
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Latest Government Announcement - wider impact ??
synaesthesia replied to Aftab_Ahmed's topic in MIS Systems
I can't imagine it'll have too much impact round here. Our local councils couldn't be trusted with schools prior to academisation and certainly can't be counted on for anything except for christmas light switch ons. Any reform would have to come from the very top down to be even considered workable. -
Intel ARC B580 - Anyone got one yet or about to buy one?
synaesthesia replied to Dos_Box's topic in Hardware
I've seen 3060's go for 150 recently (saw one go for 100 on Facebook but I was wary of that one!). Definitely a bargain to be had and still more than capable of running Cyberpunk with everything turned up at 1440. -
Intel ARC B580 - Anyone got one yet or about to buy one?
synaesthesia replied to Dos_Box's topic in Hardware
Been looking at this but decided against it - my 3060 still holds up surprisingly well. My big concern is if Arc will be a thing in the near future - Intel are cutting their losses a lot recently and you have to wonder if Arc will be another thing consigned to mobile chipsets. I hope not as frankly we need the competition and the 580 does seem damned good for the price and what it's capable of. Be interesting to see what the next AMD and NV cards are and in particular their price points! -
RPi Noob needs help connecting Pi 4 to Windows
synaesthesia replied to JSpaced's topic in Raspberry Pi, Arduino & Other SBCs
Simplify it. Set up a dedicated wifi network for the Pi's with the absolute maximum level of filtering possible. On the assumption the pi's stay in school, then being aware of who's searching for what may be negated if they're not allowed to search. For instance, could the class manage when only the Pi and accessory repositories are available for updates etc? Do they need to be able to browse from them? -
Pretty much the same - I log the build number changes between each. There's too many individual update KB's to log!
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Best website for selling computer equipment
synaesthesia replied to Mr_Jiminy's topic in General Chat
Free to list - very, very expensive to sell. -
Best website for selling computer equipment
synaesthesia replied to Mr_Jiminy's topic in General Chat
Frankly, I'd choose Facebook Marketplace these days. Ebay is an absolute joke between the fees and policies and just isn't worth the hassle. As long as you don't mind limiting audience to a more local area for pickup then you'd be fine. -
Should be quite a lot easier, as FMS had been phased out by a lot more schools long before they got rid of SIMS. Systems like corero, PSF, Sage all ticking the boxes. I've stayed very much out of that in most cases as they're nearly all cloud based and just work.
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[bromcom] Bromcom has been chosen for NI schools
synaesthesia replied to nicholab's topic in MIS Systems
I nearly just had a heart attack - I thought your username was RyanEES and we were about to have a forum showdown! Just cancelled the order for a vast amount of popcorn -
Common feedback from our ongoing migration shows a LOT of poor video guides with little consistency over how to achieve things - often going through several methods of achieving the same goal. From personal experience, I'd say Arbor wins hands down on the guides and community (so far).
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I'd say that looks extremely good, as the lack of auditing available in SIMS is certainly a bugbear. Would say it's probably a bit late in the day, as anyone still using SIMS is generally either ignorant of better solutions or biding out their contract until they can move
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Managing a MacBook in a Google / MS environment
synaesthesia replied to timbo343's topic in How do you do....it?
For a single Macbook I'd tell whoever bought it to send it back and liaise with IT next time they have a wonderful idea like that. Had an English teacher through recently (sorry, "doctor") demanding the same otherwise he was simply too good for the school! -
Ooooh that's interesting, thank you!
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Document management service migration doesn't seem to be covered by Bromcom at least, so usually needs something like Salamander to deal with, that's £500 off the bat. And the less said about Cunninghams and their frankly scandalous £1000 for a 10 minute job, the better. They need stringing up.
